Study Links Midlife Belly Fat to Higher Risk of Dementia

Study Links Midlife Belly Fat to Higher Risk of Dementia
New findings suggest that people who are large around the middle in their 40s are more likely to suffer brain disorders in their 70s. Transcript of radio broadcast:
08 April 2008

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Being overweight can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart attacks. But now there may be another reason to lose the fat, especially around the middle of the body.

A recent study suggested that people in their forties with belly fat have an increased risk of dementia later in life.

Dementia is the name for a group of brain disorders that affect memory, behavior, learning and language. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. Dementia rarely appears before the age of sixty.

The new study added to growing evidence that people with large stomachs can face greater health risks than others who are overweight.

The study involved more than six thousand northern California members of Kaiser Permanente, a health care organization. Researchers looked at the patients' medical records from between nineteen sixty-four and nineteen seventy-three.

The people were in their early to mid-forties at the time. They were all part of a long-term health study that included measurements of belly fat.

The researchers compared the records with those from when the patients were in their seventies. By that time, almost one out of six of them had dementia. The researchers found that dementia was more common in those with wider bellies.

Those with the highest belly measurements had almost three times the risk of dementia compared to those with the lowest.

Belly size appeared to make a difference even in patients with normal body weight.

Belly size is linked to a kind of fat that grows around organs and produces harmful substances. Experts believe that belly fat is more dangerous than other kinds of fat cells that grow just under the skin.

The researchers say this is the first study to demonstrate a link between midlife belly fat and the risk of dementia. Still, it is possible that this apparent connection could be the result of a complex set of health-related behaviors.

The findings appeared in the journal Neurology. Rachel Whitmer from the Kaiser Permanente research division led the study. She says the findings do not explain why belly fat may be linked to dementia. But she says the study should send a warning.

Other research has shown that brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease might begin as early as young adulthood. And another study showed that belly fat in old people was tied to increased loss of brain cells.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I’m Barbara Klein.


----------------------------Google Translate

研究环节中年腹部脂肪，以更高的风险性痴呆
新的调查结果显示，人都是大中左右，在40岁左右更可能患上脑疾患七十。全文电台广播：
2008年4月8日

这是美国之音特别英语卫生报告。

超重可导致血压高，糖尿病和心脏病发作。但现在可能有另外一个原因，失去脂肪，尤其是靠近中东的身体。

最近的一份研究报告建议，人们在40岁与腹部脂肪有风险增加了老年痴呆症后的生活情趣。

老年痴呆症是名字为一组脑部疾病，影响记忆，行为，学习和语言。阿兹海默症是最常见的原因。老年痴呆症很少出现，才满60岁。

这项新的研究中加入越来越多的证据表明人们与大肚皮能面对更大的健康风险比其他人超重。

这项研究涉及超过6000北加州议员凯泽永久医疗，保健机构。研究人员在病人的医疗纪录，从1964年和1973年。

该人在其初期至中期，在四十多的时间。他们都是一个组成部分，长期健康研究，其中包括测量腹部脂肪。

研究人员比较了记录这些数据与当患者在其七十年代。到那个时候，几乎每6人已痴呆症。研究人员发现，老年痴呆症是较常见于那些与更广泛的肚子。

那些具有最高肚子测量了近3倍的危险性痴呆相比，那些与最低的。

腹部的大小似乎变得不同，即使在患者与正常体重。

腹部大小是联系在一起的一种脂肪生长周围器官，并产生有害物质。专家们认为，腹部脂肪更危险，比其他种类的脂肪细胞中生长，只是皮肤下。

研究人员说，这是第一次研究表明之间的联系中年，腹部脂肪和风险的痴呆症。还有，有可能这明显联系，可结果一套复杂的与健康有关的行为。

调查结果刊登在杂志神经病学。雷切尔惠特默从恺撒永久研究部主导的这项研究。她说，这样做的结果不能解释为什么腹部脂肪，可能与老年痴呆症。但是，她说，这项研究应该发出一个警告。

其他的研究显示，脑部的变化联系起来，以阿尔茨海默氏病可能要开始，早在年轻的成年人。另有研究显示，腹部脂肪岁的人被捆绑，以增加损失的脑细胞。

这也是该美国之音特别英语卫生报告，写caty维夫。我巴巴拉克莱因。